Cyber security steals the limelight as health care goes digital

BY SUDIP SAHA

Sudip Saha is chief operating officer at Future Market Insights. In recent years, data security has become a major concern, particularly in the health care business. With the emergence of different norms and regulations relevant to patient data protection, the health care business has undergone a digital transition throughout the years. In today’s technologically advanced world, new technologies such as the cloud and next-generation databases are being used to store and manage patient-related data in hospitals and clinics.

With the increased deployment of modern technology and internet penetration, the incidence of cyber attacks and data breaches in the

health care business is on the rise. Reports suggest that nearly 34% of health care organizations were hit by a cyber attack by the end of 2020. Authorities fear that such an increased rate of cyber attacks will cause ample losses to the organizations.

In order to address these cyber attacks and prevent them from happening frequently, health care organizations are paving their way towards digital transformation. Putting these factors in a nutshell, the analysts at Future Market Insights project the market for global cyber security is likely to exhibit 10.5% CAGR through 2032. This article focuses on the need for addressing data security in the health care sector and what actions the top economies are taking to steps to forestall the accelerating spread from the ongoing cyber attacks.

How are health care organizations addressing the need for data security?

Protecting sensitive information related to the patients and their medical history is prompting organizations to deploy diversified technologies and strategies to identify risk elements. The percentage of risk involved with the technologies being used is dramatically increasing the number of attacks on health care organizations. In July 2021, the Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG) experienced a cyber attack, potentially impacting about 750,000 patients and 522 current and former OAG employees. After the attack, the company was briefly locked out of its servers.

Moreover, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported nearly 500 health care data breaches and 239.4 million cyber attacks attempted in 2020. This number is predicted to rise owing to the rapid digitization of the health care industry. For attackers, it takes just a few seconds to invade the organizations’ data, but it takes several weeks to identify the breach, take protective measures against it, and penetrate the suitable tools for the prevention from such breaches in the future. To protect important data from attackers, health care organizations are increasingly investing in improving their overall cyber security infrastructure. This ultimately turns out to be an opportunistic situation for the industry leaders in the global cyber security market. For instance, in February, the Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS), announced the launch of a no-cost ransomware protection service, Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting (MDBR), for private hospitals in the U.S. CIS fully funds this service for all private hospitals in the U.S. as part of its nonprofit mission to make the connected world a safer place.

Increased demand for such advanced security services to mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks has fueled the demand for network security firewalls.

Data security systems preventing cyber attacks on medical health record systems

The privacy of patients and their information is one of the most essential factors taken into consideration while opting for an electronic medical health record system. A health care organization well-equipped with an effective health care security program has an edge over other organizations owing to the safety and security of the medical records.

As the presence of data security programs is increasing, cybercriminals are finding it difficult to attack critical medical health records. An effective health care security program tells the patients about the credibility and commitment of the organization towards the protection of their medical records. In May 2021, HCA Health care announced a new multiyear strategic partnership with Google Cloud focused on analytics-driven process improvement and digital transformation.

The partnership is aimed at building next-generation operational models focused on actionable insights and improved workflows. In addition, the goal is to build and refine workflows and improve clinical decision support to enhance quality, safety, and efficiency.

Current regulations pertaining to the security protocols for health care organizations seeking to adopt a secure electronic health records system are improving patient care and treatment. Both patients and health care professionals are guaranteed efficient utilization of the data for analysis and measures.

In 2020, Forescout Technologies, Inc. announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has deployed the Forescout platform across 1.3 million unique devices at more than 280 physical locations, hitting a critical cyber security milestone for the Agency. Additionally, in February 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability